What More in the Name of Terror?

Our Opinion/Can we still agree to disagree?

By Cindy Gomez-Schempp
Editor

There are many misguided decisions we make in the name of love. Love of material things, people, animals, or country. We’ve all heard of the drunken call to an old flame in the middle of the night. Or the unhealthy excess spent on hobbies such as organized sports, gambling and vice. Perhaps more frightening are the misguided decisions we make in the name of terror. We have police called on children at school, frail old women fondled by TSA agents, and wholesale mayhem at protests in Wisconsin. Have you noticed lately how our “terror mentality” has shifted us from the “Land of the Free” to “Land of the Lost?”

We spend so much time in airport security checks that author of Superfreakonomics, Steven Levitt, estimates that terrorists cause us to lose the equivalent of 14 lives every year … waiting in airport security checks. Can you believe that? It’s as if we’ve decided collectively as a society that we will sacrifice 14 lives per year to fighting terrorism in airports rather than live with the threat. Ludicrous. We are also terrorizing our own citizens in the process. Those security checks at the airports have not been without their share of discomfort. Colostomy bags have been burst, screaming toddlers have been manhandled while their horrified parents watch, women have been inappropriately fondled, and so on. Beyond that, we have a law enforcement government-wide that now have expanded abilities to question, search, detain, arrest, and imprison us with little or no evidence of criminal action. We simply need to be seen as a threat. Since its inception, the use of “terroristic threat” has been wildly misused by law enforcement and government officials to throw the book at people they don’t like (or don’t like to hear from).

Remember the time when everyone was labeled a communist so they could be thrown in jail,  have their reputations destroyed, or be black-listed for work? That time is here again. It’s just called terrorism now.
Take for instance the story of Minnesota activist, Carlos Montes, as an example. A long time anti-war and worker’s rights activist and organizer, Montes was recently the target of a joint Sherriff’s SWAT team and FBI raid and seizure. Armed with assault rifles and bullet proof vests, the law enforcement team broke down the door and arrested Montes in his pajamas. Montes, who had been burglarized in the middle of the night, purchased a gun to protect himself from future intruders. 42 years earlier, Montes was arrested and charged with a felony which made him ineligible to purchase a gun. The four-decade-old felony charge was for throwing a Coke can at an officer during a war protest. Montes was one of the organizers who protested the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in 2008, and only one of 23 Minnesota activists facing a trial and possible charges by a federal grand jury. The military style raid and arrest which was the basis for the search and seizure of Montes is highly questionable in light of his past history of activism. Montes has actively protested the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the U.S. support of Israel and Colombia. A statement issued after the detentions of these activists by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General harshly criticized the FBI for invoking anti-terrorist laws as a pretext to target organizations created to promote solidarity and social justice; among those targeted besides Montes were activists from Greenpeace, PETA, and the Catholic Worker.
The attacks began with non-profits known for their effectiveness at engaging people of color in democracy and voting, like Acorn was,  being pegged as shifty organizations that endanger the rights of American voters through fraud. Next NPR came under fire, and now has the reputation of a tainted news organization with decreased credibility. How are we allowing this to happen in our society?

These decisions today are shaping a new generation of children into becoming complacent automatons that accept whatever they are told to do, willingly. It’s been more than a decade since 9/11 took the U.S. down the path of terror. We’ve started wars, destroyed diplomatic relationships, and turned ourselves into a fortress defending itself against everyone. In that time, we’ve all become accustomed to airport searches, increased border security, in-depth background checks, credit checks, and loss of personal freedoms through “Patriot Act” laws. We’ve seen the results of Gitmo, Secure Communities, Halliburton and Blackwater. We’ve lived through a decade of wars fought on foreign soil almost completely out of sight and out of mind. It’s no wonder that a whole new generation of children are growing up without the concepts of personal freedom, First Amendment rights to speak and assemble. Children today have no spirit of protest, nor any concept of the legacy of civil rights, equality, and anti-war protests left for them to follow and emulate.

And that’s a tragedy. The next generation will need strong activists to fight for the freedoms we still have left. Today, our government is actively shutting down dissidents wherever they may be found. Pretty soon the powers that be won’t have to shut us up. We’ll already be silent by choice.

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